The Problem With Clothes
by Me-Nuriko
Summary: Shido and a closet filled with clothes. Written for a challenge.


**A/N:** This is written for a challenge on the ff dot net MB. (The address can be found in my profile.) That means that it's very different from _most_ of what I have written before. Those of you who have read my earlier stories are probably expecting a well plotted story. Warning – this story has no plot what-so-ever!

Thanks to Salmastryon who pushed me in the right direction and made me start this. She hasn't seen the result so I can't blame any mistake on her, though. (winks)

**The Problem With Clothes**

Shido slowly walked up the stairs to his room. 'Go choose what to wear tomorrow,' Madoka had said gently. Choosing clothes. It was not something he really cared for. But if Madoka wanted him to, he would. Shit, the Snake bastard was right, she had turned him into a tamed animal. Strangely enough Shido didn't mind that at all. On the contrary he knew he had never been this happy in his life before. So it was actually a small thing making her happy by putting on nice clothes.

He entered the big room he had been given in the large estate. Though he had lived here for quite a while now, he still marveled over the room's grandness. The thick carpet, the magnificent bed with the nightstand, the chandelier hanging from the ceiling, the two big windows with heavy curtains, the fan rotating to keep the heat away from the room and give it a false sense of freshness. Not that he was fooled by that, but ordinary humans probably found it refreshing. There was also a big desk in dark oak, together with a comfortable chair. He gave the desk and chair a look; he had never used them.

At the opposite end of the bed were two other doors. One led to his private bathroom, the other opened up to what he needed at the moment. Clothes. Shido crossed the room to the closet's door and opened it. Reaching in he lit the lamp, and then stood with an expression of hopelessness in his face, looking at the incredible amount of clothes that somehow he was the owner of. Since he was in no way interested, and did not have any sense of neither fashion nor dress codes, Madoka had instructed her servants to buy him whatever they could think of that he might need. Tailors had been there and he had stoically endured the measurements of his body. And here he was now, looking at the result of their efforts.

Hesitantly he took one step into the closet. What to wear tomorrow? There was so much here. He usually only used what was in the drawer between the windows, which was underwears, socks, pants, t-shirts, vests and bandanas. All looking pretty much the same. They were comfortable and familiar, and the only reason to change at all, was that they needed cleansing now and then.

Here, in the closet, was all kind of clothes he could image. Well, he couldn't see any girl clothes of course. So, what was he going to wear tomorrow? First of all he needed underwear. He supposed that it didn't matter what kind of briefs he was wearing, so heading for the shelves with briefs and boxer shorts, he only grabbed the pair that lay at the top of the pile of briefs. The feeling of them gave him a start. What were these made of? He looked down at the fabric in his hand. They were white and sort of shiny he could see now. And they felt a little slippery. Briefs made of silk? He couldn't help but snicker a little at the unnecessity. Ch, whatever, Shido went out of the closet and put the briefs down on the bed, and then went back to the closet. At least that was easy.

Socks, then. He supposed he needed the right color on those, but that depended on what color he was going to wear on his other outfit, so they had to wait. He slowly walked along the rows of hanging pants and shirts. Of course he needed pants, and Madoka had mentioned something about getting help if the shirt needed ironing, so he guessed a shirt was a must. Okay, let's see. Shirts, shirts, shirts… They were all hanging after colors and he walked among them and stopped in front of the brown ones. Randomly he picked one out, and held it up to look at it. No, no, no. No way in hell he was going to wear that one. The arms had a nice brown color and it was made of plain cotton, and so far it was okay, but the front and back had big flowers all over! Who had thought that he could ever need something like this? Snorting he hang the shirt back.

More frustrated than ever he stroke with his hand over the shirts as he once again walked along the rows of them. Silks, linen, cotton, in all different colors. He stopped in front of a shirt with a disgusting pinkish shade and shuddered. When he saw what others had bought for him he started to think that perhaps he should have taken a bigger part in this after all. Oh, whatever. Maybe he should go for a plain white shirt after all. He took out two white shirts and compared them. Who would have thought that white shirts could be so different? One had a broad collar, no chest pocket, and cuffs with two buttons, the other had a narrower collar, a chest pocket, and the cuffs didn't have any buttons at all. If he chose something like the second one he would need to chose cufflinks, too. Maybe the first one then? But wasn't he suppose to wear a tie if he wore a white shirt? Shit, he didn't know.

Sighing he went out of the closet and looked miserably at the sole pair of briefs laying at the end of the bed. He turned and opened the door to the balcony and went outside. A book lay on the small table at the balcony and he picked it up. Madoka had given it to him and said: "It's nice to read some fiction, too. It's good relaxation." He had started to read it, but then forgot about it. He wasn't used to reading, but she was right that it was relaxing.

A couple of birds gave him company and he smiled at their presence. It was easier with them than with humans. His animal friends had their problems and worries, but they were simpler, if no less troublesome. Being attractive they could understand, but not human codes for how socializing would happen. He did some small talk with the little ones, and it made him feel better. When they flew he leant against the rail, thinking. If he pretended he got an emergency call from some of his friends in the forest, then he could skip this event altogether? No, Madoka would know he was lying, she always could tell, and even if she wouldn't say anything she would be hurt. If he really didn't want to go, it was better he told her straight out. But of course he would go. Awkward he might feel, but he wasn't a coward. It wasn't like he was afraid to go out with Madoka.

A knock on the room's door interrupted his musings, and he called, "Come in".

---

Madoka entered the room as she heard the answer from inside. A faint difference in the movement of the air and the sounds from the outside told her the balcony door was open. She went straight for it with Mozart by her side, knowing Shido would be out there.

The balcony was quite big, but even without Mozart she would have known immediately where Shido was. She could feel the scent of him, the smell that was unmistakenly him, over to the left by the railing. Smiling she walked over to him and reached out her hand for him. Her hand was caught in his big strong one, and she was gently pulled closer. An arm was laid around her shoulders, but Shido was still quiet.

She stood on tiptoe and kissed him on the cheek. "Having trouble with the clothes?" she asked with a mixture of faint worry and amusement, and the arm around her shoulder tensed.

"Yes," came the admitting answer.

"We can call it off, if you don't want to go," she offered sincerely. "I don't want you to feel bad about this."

She could hear hesitation in his voice when he answered, but the words said otherwise.

"No, I'll go."

"Are you sure?" she asked, and was relieved when his reply this time held a much more certain tone.

"Yes. But I still don't know what to wear."

She smiled. "Come on. I'll help you." With his hand in hers, she almost dragged him back to the room and into the closet. "Have you found anything at all that you liked?"

"No. Besides from a pair of briefs. In silk," he added as an afterthought.

"Silk?" Madoka's voice was amused. "Never thought you would like to wear silk under."

"I just grabbed the first pair I saw." Shido's voice sounded like he tried to be casual about it, and she knew he was telling the truth, but she could also tell he was blushing. That made her wanting to tease him some more.

"Maybe under this rough shell, there is a softy. A person who wants to wear silk underwears, and sleep on silk sheets, waking up to breakfast served by a butler by the bedside, and then gets help to get dressed in his silk shirts and pants." Madoka laughed teasingly, and as she had expected Shido snorted and said:

"No, I wouldn't!"

Madoka, still with an amused smile, turned to the clothes. "Let's find out what you will wear tomorrow, _over_ the silk briefs."

She felt over the clothes and found the pants. Cotton, linen, polyester, wool, mixes… her sensitive hands felt the different fabrics and she pondered for a while, and then she smiled. Cotton. Shido should wear cotton pants tomorrow. Knowingly she felt for the different cotton pants on their hangers searching for something that would be perfect for Shido. No, these would be too tight, Shido wouldn't be able to move the way he liked, and that would make him seem like he was dressed up as someone else. She rejected the next pair, too, as too loose. Those would hide his lithe body, and even if she couldn't see him, she still wanted others to see the real Shido. And the real Shido wasn't to be hidden in baggy trousers, she thought as she put the trousers away. The next pair her fingers found was a pair of quite tight trousers that seemed that they still not would hinder Shido's movements. She felt over the pants, measuring them, thinking about Shido. The pants didn't have any pockets, but he wouldn't need any pockets tomorrow anyway. Yes, she thought these would be a good choice. "Here." She held out the pants to Shido. "Put them on the bed."

Shido took the pants and she heard him walk over to the bed and put the pants down on them, before he returned to the closet.

"Now a shirt." Madoka continued to the rows of hanging shirts. The silk shirts she passed by; they felt nice to touch, but in spite of her teasing she didn't think 'silk shirts' would be said in the same sentence as 'Shido'. No, Shido was a man for rougher materials. Cotton, wool and leather. She smiled at the thought. A leather shirt, that would shock tomorrow's guests, even if they wouldn't show it with more than a raised brow. For a moment she lingered at the thought. That was an idea, if there was a leather shirt among those in the closet. Her hands felt through them all, and she bent forward to try to find the smell of leather. No, not here. Better go for plain cotton then. She touched the shirts, and took a closer feeling of those made of cotton. Again she knew what she was after. Noting that would need cufflinks, and nothing with a breast pocket. She knew all too well how all the other guests would be dressed, but that simply wasn't Shido's style. No, he must wear clothes that showed them who he was, but for his sake the clothes needed to be more stylish then his regular ones. Stupid dress codes. At least she would make sure Shido would still be Shido in the clothes. Finally she found what she was looking for, and Shido put it, too, on the bed. She could feel he wasn't entirely happy, but decided to leave that for later.

"You need a vest, too," she stated. "All the other guests will wear jackets, but you should wear a vest."

At that Shido stopped and she could feel his surprise. "Why?"

Madoka didn't answer, instead she asked. "Would you feel comfortable in a jacket?"

"Hell, no!" Shido snorted. "A vest is fine. Guess it's part of the dress code, too?"

"Well, not for tomorrow's party," she answered. "And not the kind of vest I had in mind."

"You have a wicked streak, Madoka. Do you know that?" Shido asked in an amused voice. "I'll wear whatever you say. If you think I can, without your fine guests shi… faints."

Madoka laughed. "Only some of them. And they are those that I really don't care what they think. Those who matters will see you as the person you are, and don't care what you wear."

"Why can't I have my regular clothes than?"

"You can, if you really like to," Madoka explained. "Do you want to?"

Shido was quiet for a while, and Madoka waited patiently.

"No," Shido said. "Better not shock them too much."

"Good," she smiled at him. "Where are the vests?"

She was led to the vests and started to choose. "They are not so many." That was a disappointment. Clearly she had made a mistake letting others take responsibility for Shido's clothes. Silk shirts, and almost no vests. But it was probably not a problem for tomorrow's clothes, because the one she held in her hands at the moment felt so right. And in leather. She sniffed it; the smell was wonderful. It was quite short and it felt a little rough on the surface. No pockets here either, and not even buttons. Perfect. She took it out to the bed herself, and Shido followed her out of the closet.

"Can you tell me what colors the clothes are?" she asked him.

"Colors?" She could hear his surprise. "But you don't know the colors."

"Do it anyway," Madoka said firmly. "I'll explain later."

"Eh… the pants are sort of blue gray. More blue than gray, but not brilliant blue, and they are neither dark, nor light. Middle dark, kind of."

She smiled at his explanation. "Sounds good. What about the shirt?"

This time she heard his tone change when he answered. "Greenish turquoise."

"Oh," Madoka said. "We can't have that."

"How do you know that?" Shido clearly wanted to know about her interest in colors she couldn't even understand. But Madoka wasn't finished yet.

"I'll soon tell you. What's the color of the vest?"

"It's black." This time his tone was approving. "Now will you tell me why you wanted to know the colors?"

Again she smiled at him. "If I only had asked you what you thought about the colors you would have said 'They are all right', even if you didn't thought so. Either because you didn't trust yourself, or because you didn't want to cause more work for me. But this way you told me what colors the clothes were, and your tone of voice revealed what you really thought of each of the colors."

A short laugh was heard from Shido. "Does that mean I don't like the color of the shirt?"

At that Madoka laughed loud. "You most definitely don't like that color. Can you see if there is another one, just like it, but with a more suitable color?"

She heard Shido disappear into the closet once again. When he returned he held out a shirt to her, and she could feel it was the same model as the other one. "This is light blue," Shido said, sounding amused.

"And I can hear you like that color better," Madoka nodded. "If you only find some socks, too, then we're finished. In a proper color, of course." She giggled a little at him.

Again Shido found something in the closet and throw it at the bed. "Light blue," he said.

"Is that good?" Madoka asked.

"I don't know," came the answer. "But it doesn't clash with the other colors anyway.

Madoka had to laugh at that, too. "Soon you'll be a real fashion expert. Now get dressed."

"Now?" Shido sounded surprised. "Why?"

"Because I want to 'look' at you, of course." She pointed at the clothes on the bed. "Please?"

Shido started to undress, and Madoka thought of how difficult it had been for him before to do that. Even though he knew she couldn't see him he had had a hard time changing clothes if she was in the room. Now he was use to it, and didn't seem to give it a second thought. When he was ready she felt him stand before her.

"So, what do you think?" Shido said, and Madoka was glad to hear him sounding rather amused. She gently touched the new clothes on his body, felt the fabric under her fingers, smelled how Shido's scent overthrew the scent of the clothes. Yes, this felt right.

"You could win a beauty contest," she teased him. "I think you are wonderful."

Now it was Shido's turn to laugh out loud. "I'm glad you think so, but I'm afraid you're the only one. Besides," he grinned, "what would my animal friends think of such foolishness?"

"Same thing as you think, probably." Madoka was happy to hear Shido being more relaxed now. When the problem with his clothes was fixed, he wasn't as tense as he had been when she first entered the room. She took his hand, started to drag him out of the room, and with a teasing voice she said, "Now that we have taken care of you clothes it's time to do something about your hair…"

"What!"

**owari**


End file.
